‘Commentary’ Archives
Millions In Motion
By Peter Molenaar The people in this neighborhood of the world have yet another opportunity to experience an enhanced human connection””to elicit a smile and eye contact from the Arab people among us. For example, don”'t just plop coins on the counter at the corner convenience store, but boldly ask: “What”'s your opinion regarding the Egyptian Revolution?” You are likely to discover a knowledgeable person. Why the commotion in Arab lands? In Egypt, we are told, the corruption of the old regime cost more than $6 billion in public money per year. Estimates of the former president”'s accumulated fortune range as high as $70 billion. Mubarek”'s good buddies became merely billionaires while millions lived on less than $2 per day. Heartless brutality appears as the hallmark of a regime which sadly was considered to have been a “good friend of the United States”. (more…)
Editorial “A Smile is”¦the shortest distance between people.”
The final piano number at the recent Grand Opening of the American Swedish Institute”'s Victor Borge Exhibit was the nostalgic Claire de Lune played by pianist Glenn Henriksen. The last quotation shared by Janet Borge Crowle, a daughter of Borge, following nearly an hour of fascinating reminiscing about her “Papa,” the famous “Great Dane” and Clown Prince, was, “A smile is the shortest distance between people.” Claire de Lune was always Borge”'s final song. It is also a reminder that even with turbulence in his life composer Claude-Achille DeBussy was able to compose contemplative and even romantic music like this song of the moon. (more…)
